The second free practice session started also under the threat of rain. Most drivers immediately started with timed laps. The first to set a time was Jaime Alguersuari. The Spaniard did the lap in 1:27.596 but was immediately beaten by Sergio Perez in the Sauber. After 20 minutes the fastest lap was set by Jenson Button. The Brit managed to squeeze out a 1:22.091. He had a lead of 0.2 second to Alonso, Vettel, Massa and Hamilton.

Halfway through the session the first drivers changed to the red super soft tyres. Lewis Hamilton was leading with a 1:21.018 and was just in front of Fernando Alonso. Button was third and Webber fourth. The times were still some way off from last year's pole time set by Sebastian Vettel: 1:18.773. The time by Hamilton would be the fastest for the rest of session. The top runners decided to focus on race strategy in the remaining laps. They did various race simulations and went around the circuit in laps of around 1 minute 27.